Recipes From The Porch: Refrigerator Dill Pickles

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here or not, but, I am not a fan of cucumbers. I really do not like the taste of them and will pick them off my salads in restaurants, tossing them to whatever cucumber-lover I am with at the time; this is usually Hugh, who can't get enough of them. In fact, I only grow cucumbers so that Hugh can eat them, or, so that I can make pickles, because, while I hate cucumbers, I love pickles.

I'm weird like that.

My grandma used to make the best bread and butter pickles, and I have used her recipe in the past. She also made dill pickles, which were amazing. I'm relatively confident that her dill pickles were canned for long-term storage, which is a lot more time consuming than the recipe that I am sharing today.

Refrigerator dill pickles can be made in an afternoon, and, while they won't store for as long as traditionally canned pickles, they really don't need to; they're so delicious, they go fast.

Ingredients:

10-12 pickling cucumbers

4 cups water

2 cups white vinegar

2 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp sugar

1 big bunch fresh dill, thick stems removed

1 head garlic

peppercorn kernels, to taste

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, combine water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat. Allow brine to come to room temperature.

Meanwhile, separate, peel, and smash garlic cloves. Or, if you are like me; discover that your "fresh" garlic is actually not fresh at. all. In fact, it is unusable. 

Pivot to jarred garlic cloves, which will work just fine.

Slice cucumbers into spears, or slice into chips. If you have a handy-dandy ridged cutter, now is the time to bust it out. I had actually forgotten that I owned such a beast, but remembered after I had sliced half a cuke. I tossed the less fancy slices into a cucumber salad for Hugh, because I wanted consistency in my pickle chips.

Loosely pack sterilized quart jars with cucumbers, garlic, and dill. Use as much of each as your heart desires, depending on how spicy and/or dilly you like your pickles. Add 10-12 peppercorns to each jar, again, depending on your tastes (more, if you like!).

Pour brine over cucumbers, making sure to submerge each spear/chip. Seal jars and place in refrigerator and allow to ferment for at least a week.

The pickles will keep in the fridge for about two months.

But, let's be honest, they'll get eaten up waaaayyy before that.